Dutch Bros. will expand to Palo Cedro

Franchisee Chris Resner will open his first Dutch Bros. coffee kiosk outside Redding next month.

Resner, 34, has purchased the lease of Palo Cedro Coffee Co. at Deschutes Road and Old Forty-four Drive. The location is about a quarter-mile north of the Holiday Quality Foods shopping center.

With options, Resner is taking over a 15-year lease from Palo Cedro Coffee.

Work on converting the location to a Dutch Bros. will start within the next two weeks. The new location is scheduled to open Dec. 1, Resner said.

"Redding Christian (School) has moved out (to Palo Cedro), there's North Cow Creek School, Junction School - so there is a good crowd of parents taking kids to school," Resner said Thursday.

Resner opened his first Dutch Bros. in 2004 on Churn Creek Road near the post office in Redding. He took out a half-million-dollar loan from a private investor to finance that location.

Dutch Bros. today has five kiosks in Redding and will have 45 employees after the Palo Cedro location opens. Resner owns the business with his wife, Erin. The couple has a 10-month-old boy named Beckett.

The Resners' coffee franchise over the years has done its share of community outreach.

Dutch Bros. this fall has been selling coffee at Foothill High School football games and donating 20 percent of the sales back to the football program. Dutch Bros. will do the same for basketball season, Chris Resner said.

"I would say I am getting ready to cut a check for $3,000 to their football program," Resner said.

Despite the tough economy, Resner says he has not had to lay off any employees.

"We are hanging in there," Resner said. "We had a good three years to build a good customer base before this whole thing hit. I think it's (coffee) a small purchase that people are not cutting out, so it's been really good for us."

Resner said the recession also has been a learning experience.

"It has taught us where we can save money and has made us focus on the back end and pay attention to payroll and the cost of our product," Resner said.

While he hasn't picked out a spot, Resner said he has his eye on Anderson next.

"There is some opportunity in Anderson, but we are really not making any decisions yet," Resner said. "That is one thing with the way the economy is, we are being very cautious. ... This Palo Cedro deal came up after crunching numbers and negotiating for two or three months. We really made sure it was a smart move and we were not just jumping out to get another shop open."